Destructive-

Finally ive had it, i didnt listen to people when they told me to Go Koni / GC first time around.... lol

anyways, im finally in the market to buy my setup, but im wondering what spring rates i should go with.

I want my ride to be stiff, i want to drag in this setup on some weekends. This car is ALSO my daily driver, <U>but dont take that into consideration too much</U>. I was thinking 400f/450r because i read a couple people had that and were happy, But honestly i have no idea how stiff of a rate is "too stiff"

i had some skunk2 coilover sleeves that were pretty stiff for comparison, and i was happy with that ride.

what are some high spring rates you guys are riding on, and how stiff is it

KaBlookie

"Too stiff" is a perception, which is what makes it hard to choose spring rates by asking people...which sucks because from there the best way would be to feel it, but you can't exactly test drive spring rates.

400/450 seems to be around a good setup. Your Skunk2s were likely around the 350-400lb range, so going with what you're thinking of would be good in terms of stiffness...you'll also be riding on Koni Yellows, which are (I'm assuming) worlds better than your current dampers, so your car will both ride and handle better.

I wouldn't recommend going over 500-600lbs-in with the off-the-shelf Koni Yellows, as that's more or less where their limit is.

Destructive-

yeah asking people for their opinion on this kind of stuff is always hard to get a good answer. thanks for the reply.

and yeah im currently on KYB AGXs. So the konis should perform better.

having a stiffer rate in the rear is better for drag correct?

Targa250R

I have no idea what car we're talking about here.

omnirage

Alright...

If you're a JDM tuff guy, you can handle rates in the 500lb+ neighborhood.

If you're concerned about a decent ride, stick around the 400lb-500lb range.

I used to have Skunk2 Pro-S coilovers, and while the performance was good, they weren't comfortable. It got old to me after a year, and the girls no likey.

Now I have Koni Yellows and 430f/375r ground control coilovers. Those, plus a 22mm Progress rear sway bar = a fairly comfortable ride, plus a good experience when cornering. It suits me well, and it's very capable imo.

Destructive-

its a 99 integra gsr.

Omni - the front being stiffer promotes less chance of oversteer correct? and when the back is stiffer, its better for drag? how would the cornering be on a setup with 400f / 450r?

fatpride111

stiffer springs in the rear = over steer

stiffer front = under steer

in some cases.

just depends what you want it for. if its for drag racing, yeah, stiffer rear is the way to go. in my experience, ive had my rear tires fish tail quite a bit while cornering so i got 450f/380r in my 93 hatch... just got them in the mail this week, and ill install them on tuesday, and ill report back how it handles

edit: i heard that GC/ eibach will send you new springs with different rates for like $50 or something like that? is that true?

Destructive-

let me know how it handles! im contemplating whether to get a stiffer rear, or stiffer front.

omnirage

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Destructive- &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Omni - the front being stiffer promotes less chance of oversteer correct? and when the back is stiffer, its better for drag? how would the cornering be on a setup with 400f / 450r?</TD></TR></TABLE>

For drag racing you want stiffer springs in the rear to prevent the *** of the car from squatting, which takes away from the energy used to keep the car accelerating. You want that traction up front.

But for autox you also want a stiff ***! And you can achieve a stiff *** without putting stiffer rear springs in by using a fatter sway bar to compensate. While turning, the sway bar kicks in and takes over for the spring. Thus, you don't have to have rear biased spring rates to have a decent handling vehicle. You can keep some ride comfort...since the rear springs are where you'll really feel differences ine spring rates/ride quality.

FatPride: They're about that price per spring. Still not bad...I have an extra pair of 325lb/in

Oh...and when stiffening the rear, by sway bar or springs...<U>BE GOD DAMNED CAREFUL</U>. I've oversteered pretty good twice so far - in not so good situations (daily driving) - and nearly screwed my car up...and one of those times I wasn't even pushing it. Just don't go crazy with your new setups.

Destructive-

see thats what scares me haha. i dont want to oversteer into an innocent persons car or anything.

what are the effects of having an even rate throught? like 400 front and rear?

fatpride111

the way i see it, is if you plan on taking corners fast, like road racing, or just an off ramp, id go stiffer up front. i believe you get more traction to the rear tires that way, which are usually the first to go.

im gonna be road racing my car this saturday (if i can finish it in time ) in a long road course where its common to get above 100mph so ill report back once see how they perform.

main reason i went with soft in the rear is once i spun out coming off highway 67, and did a 540* in to on coming traffic, and it was a normal turn too... scared the **** outa me, but couldnt help laugh about it.

as for identical spring rates? ... i have no idea haha... i guess u wont the advantages of having stiff front/rear ??

omnirage

Well, I think you'd have a car that would be a lot less prone to understeer, but not sooooo anxious to get tail happy. You would just have to get used to it and treat it like it WILL break traction in the rear untill you really try here out in an open area. That's what I would do...test the limits, safely of course. I couldn't tell you for sure how it would act with your stock rear sway bar, I just don't have the experience.

I'd definitely be careful (always, even in a stock car), but enjoy the ride. You will have some body roll problems if you have rates that soft and no stiffer sway bars, at least without a fatter rear bar...nothing horrible but some roll will be there. You're "supposed" to tweak your spring rates and then move on to trying different sway bars as necessary anyway.

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Rear spring rate plays the biggest part in ride quality. I had 450 lb/in springs in the rear of my Integra for 10 months, and my 100-mile daily commute was almost unbearable.

omnirage

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Rear spring rate plays the biggest part in ride quality. I had 450 lb/in springs in the rear of my Integra for 10 months, and my 100-mile daily commute was almost unbearable.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I believe you! Going from 325lb/in rears to 375lb was a huge difference, even though I already knew what to expect. I used to have the old Skunk2 Pro-S coilover setup...that was pretty brutal.

TunerN00b

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fatpride111 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
as for identical spring rates? ... i have no idea haha... i guess u wont the advantages of having stiff front/rear ??</TD></TR></TABLE>

On a DC/EG/EK, identical rates front to back is a rear stiff suspension, due to the motion ratios.

fatpride111

dont mean to bring back an old thread, but i went out road coursing this saturday with my 450f/380r spring rates in my EG hatch.

with that being my ONLY suspension mods, the car handled pretty well... i spun out once trying to keep up with an all out track car with slicks all the way around while he was warming up, and i did have ALOT of body roll... i could almost touch the damn ground if i stuck my hand out the window my car was leaning over so bad...

but i ran 2 laps with my konis stiff all the way, i have Dunlop DZ's 101 upfront,and dunlop fm.. somethings outback, anyway, i felt the rear tires kept wanting to go out on me, but it held. i feel if i went stiffer it woulda held much better, but it would make a nice little street set-up.

later, i ran 2 more laps with my front shocks stiff all the way, and my rear with a 180* turn from soft, and the rear held in there much better, but i was still kinda paranoid to PUSH the car as i was in it to have fun, not slam into a wall. the RWD's got me though! i was the only FWD out there, and got school'd

so i'd say, depending what you want your car to be used, then go with that rate.